You could say that everything is coming up roses for South Miami-Dade County dentist Dr. Calixto Novoa. After 23 years of practice, he has finally realized his professional dream of opening a state-of-the-art dental clinic and his older son, Jose, has just told him that he has been accepted to dental school and plans to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“That was the biggest joy and pride that I have ever felt in my life,” said Dr. Novoa. “When he told me that that he had decided to pursue the same professional path that I did and that he has been accepted to dental school, it gave me goose bumps. I think he has everything necessary to be a great dentist and make this a family practice. He’s extremely excited and I know that he will do well because he has the passion for this profession.”

At the same time, Novoa’s contractor completed work on a sprawling office building at 9280 SW 72 St. (Sunset Drive) to transform it into a new state-of-the-art dental clinic. Novoa purchased the building a year ago for $1.5 million, then spent another $600,000 on the build-out and installation of the latest and most technologically advanced equipment available.

“I invested everything I have earned over the last 20 years and then whatever the bank would allow me,” Novoa said with a smile. “This is a lifetime dream. I wanted to build an office that was modern, state of the art, comfortable, very efficient for work and, at the same time, keep my philosophy of giving as much as I can to the patient and be happy with the quality of my work.”

Dental assistant Mirsia Perez and Dr. Novoa demonstrate the features of the $28,000 dental chair.

Novoa, 46, has been a dentist for 23 years. He grew up in Puerto Rico, then attended and graduated from the University of Detroit in 1992.

He and his wife, Margarita, decided to make their home in Miami because they had friends who lived there.

“We liked the cultural mix in Miami and we decided to come here right after I finished dental school in Detroit,” he said.

Novoa initially worked in a dental office in Hialeah for two years, then with the Coral Gables Women’s Club dental clinic for children for a year; then in a South Beach dental office for another year.

“I opened my office in a little shopping center on Bird Road and 84th Avenue on April 15, 1994,” he recalled. “It has been a very good location for me and this year will be our 20th year of practice there.”

Over two decades, Novoa has established himself as a competent, caring and popular dentist and his patient registry is impressive.
“I think we have over 9,000 patients today,” he said. “I have been very fortunate. My patients not only return, they keep referring me to friends and family. I have been very blessed that so many people have continued to come to me for so many years.”

Today, however, Dr. Novoa’s patients will have to travel a little further south to Sunset Drive where they will find him at work in his beautiful and modern new stateof- the-art dental clinic at 9280 SW 72 St.

“We decided to buy the property rather than lease because the build-out for a dental office is very expensive,” Novoa said. “That’s why I did not just want to move from my present location to another shopping center or office building. I decided that if I was going to do the build-out, I wanted to do it for myself and have something that I can keep and pass on to my children in the future.”

Jose Antonio Novoa, 22, will join his father’s practice after he graduates dental school in 2016.

There are seven fully equipped dental chairs or stations in Novoa’s new facility, each with a picture window view of the passing auto traffic outside on Sunset Drive. Each chair is equipped with individual lines for such things as electricity, water, compressed air, vacuum, computer/multi-media display and x-ray.

“These are the most expensive dental chairs on the market today,” Novoa said. “They are exceptionally ergonomic; the backrest is very supportive and comfortable for the patient. They cost more than $28,000 apiece. And I designed each station so that an x-ray can be made of a patient’s mouth while they are in the same chair where the work is being done; they don’t have to move to another room or chair to have an x-ray made or have their teeth cleaned. I wanted the patient to be able to receive all the services — x-ray, cleaning, filling, root canal, extraction — from the same station. It was more costly to build it that way, but I think it is more comfortable and more efficient for the patient.” Novoa says the clinic will go beyond the usual dental procedures and offer the latest technology to patients.

“In addition to the usual dentistry procedures such as fillings, cleanings, braces, crowns, bridges and extractions, we will also do implants and we will have nitrous oxide — commonly known as laughing gas. It’s a sedation that is reversible. We also have the new digital panoramic x-ray machine and it will be upgraded to a CT Scan in a year, or as technology is added. And we pre-wired the laboratory to allow the installation of a computerized crown milling machine that will enable us to make and install a crown in one day.”

Novoa says his longtime associates Dr. Juan Amundary and hygienist Marisol Tovio will join him in practice at the new clinic.

Dr. Novoa and his wife Margarita have been married for 25 years. They have two sons, Alexander, 16, a junior at Belen High School; and Jose Antonio Novoa, 22, who will join his father in dental practice after he graduates dental school in 2016.